By Study Tracks Retailers and Teen Use in Canada
A new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence finds no significant or consistent increase in teen cannabis use as the number of licensed retailers grows. Canadian investigators assessed trends in retail density and youth marijuana use over five years.
The study followed a cohort of over 400,000 young people across multiple provinces. Canada legalized its adult-use marijuana market in 2018, providing the researchers with a maturing legal market to examine.
Researchers measured both the number of cannabis retailers and young people’s proximity to them. They determined that neither factor was associated with any significant increase in teen use.
“In this large, multi-province study of Canadian secondary school students, spatial accessibility to cannabis retailers was not consistently associated with adolescent cannabis use following legalization,” the study’s authors reported.
The study, titled “Cannabis retail accessibility and adolescent use across a maturing market: Evidence from Canada,” appears in full in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Why Researchers Found No Effect
The authors said their findings align with a growing body of literature suggesting that increased retail availability of legal cannabis does not translate directly into higher rates of youth use.
“A likely explanation [for this null effect] is that adolescents remain largely excluded from legal cannabis retail markets due to age restrictions, which may reduce the relevance of physical proximity to retail outlets for this age group,” they wrote.
The study’s authors concluded that restricting the physical proximity of retailers to schools may have limited impact on adolescent behavior. They pointed to broader social, behavioral, and policy factors as more influential determinants of adolescent cannabis use than geographic proximity alone.
The Canadian results are consistent with US data from The RAND Corporation and others showing that young people who reside near licensed marijuana retailers are no more likely to consume cannabis, or to express their intention to consume cannabis, than those who do not.
Separate findings from the United States indicate that state-licensed cannabis businesses strictly adhere to minimum age requirements and deny minors entry at rates far greater than alcohol retailers do.
Reactions and Next Steps
“Regulation and licensed markets work,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “Licensed dispensaries ID patrons and they often hire security. This greatly deters access among young people while contributing to the health and safety of the community.”
The study’s publication comes as policymakers continue to weigh how to regulate retail locations. The authors noted that concerns persist that increased retail density may contribute to higher rates of youth cannabis use.
Additional information about the study is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, “Societal Impact of Cannabis Dispensaries/Retailers.”
The findings add to the evidence base on how legal markets function in practice since Canada’s 2018 legalization.
Researchers did not report any follow-up study, and the current status is that the full findings are now published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
